Danny Willett has brilliantly climbed his way from the ‘dark places’ he had plunged to atop of the European Tour flagship event in capturing the BMW PGA Championship.
Willett had just a tap-in birdie putt on the final green in a round of 67 to win by a very impressive three shots at 20-under par on the Wentworth course.
The 2016 Masters champion captured a seventh Tour title but a first on English soil and with victory moved straight to the front in the 2020 European Ryder Cup qualifying process.
Danny Willett climbs to World No. 31 after capturing the 2019 BMW PGA (Photo – Getty/European Tour)
Spaniard Jon Rahm, who had been tied with Willett heading into both the third and final rounds, put his second shot into the water guarding the 18th green but managed to salvage par in a round of 70 for a 17-under par tally.
Willett went into freefall after capturing the Masters including plunging to World No. 472 in missing the cut at the 2018 BMW PGA though the father of two did have a ‘delicate’ reason for not being ‘up’ to his best that week.
To his enormous credit the now 31-year old never lost his affable nature enduring missed cut after missed cut until he heralded a superb return to his best in capturing last year’s season-ending DP World Tour Championship in Dubai.
Now after his victory at Tour HQ Willett will wake-up tomorrow morning as the new World No. 31.
“Winning on British soil for the first time after I’ve been to so many dark places in the past few years is one of those fairytale stories you never expect to come true,” he said
“There has been a lot of turmoil to go through since the Masters, and no-one apart from my wife Nicole and the members of my team have seen how much hard work went into turning things round.
“I was driven on by an undying want to get back there I was willing to change whatever had to be changed.
“Even on the bad days I realised playing golf for a living is a really beautiful thing to do. It’s all I ever wanted, so I’m incredibly proud to be in this position again.
“I’m incredibly proud of what I’ve been able to achieve in the last 12 months.”
Well done, Danny. We are all so incredibly proud of you.
